Answered questions

I am seeking reelection as a County Commissioner because I have had the honor and privilege of serving the citizens of Indian River County for the past eight years. I have enjoyed the challenges of leading this county and being a solutions provider. I believe that my experience in county government is critical for the sustainability of service to the residents of Indian River County. I have served during prosperous times as well as what is considered the most financially challenging times in Indian River County’s history. The past four years, clearly being the most difficult, have been met with positive results by actions through myself and collectively by the current standing County Commission.

This will have to be reviewed along with the housing element plan as it correlates to the population over the next few years. As the Citrus Industry undergoes the most revolutionary and devastating process, we will have to look tot the revitalization of other crops and the Cattle industry to revive this aspect of our economy.

Salary and wage increases should be based on performance and cost of living. Although there have been some financially challenging times where raises were not considered, when the budget allows, the current formula appears to be the fairest and most motivational responsible path to follow.

This should be based on job performance, with incremental raises that correlate with inflation to be added each five years of service. One should always be awarded for merits and longevity respectively.

Indian River County has consistently been among the lowest in millage rate and tax burden. While many elected officials may want to take claim to the lowering of taxes, we in Indian River County have those low rates due to the expertise of our administrative staff, specifically in this instance, the County Administrator.

Absentee property owners are not precluded from their obligation to maintain their property. Code Enforcement should continue to enforce the rules upon the properties and thus a lien against the property when mitigation efforts fail.

Code enforcement should look at working more closely with public records to keep in communication with Land Owners. There has to be a pro active affordable way to have the properties maintained before they get to the County Commission for request of severe actions and penalties. This issue has always been a challenge.

I believe the County Commission regular meetings and all related meetings are well publicly noticed, inclusive of agendas. The County Commission meetings are held in a fair, open and transparent manner. The current County Commission collectively has shown that the citizens need and deserve whatever time they need to ensure that their voices are heard. There are no time limits to public speaking. The minutes and archived broadcasts of the meeting are posted on the County web site along with any pertinent information the citizens may need. I support the live coverage of any and all County meetings.

As a former Public Information Officer for the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and my experience as a County Commissioner, I have direct knowledge of Florida’s open-records law and support it wholeheartedly. The Sunshine Law was established to avoid abuse of power by elected officials. All actions by the County Commission need to be conducted before the citizens.

The salary is set by the State and is commensurate with the population of the County. I give the citizens the best value for the tax dollar by making this my only occupation. I am available all hours of the day, seven days a week.

Yes - It is currently based on the population we serve. It is adequate. The staff at the county buildings have been declined raises for the past few years with the notion that every needed to "tighten" their belts in the last few years. However, Cost of Living increases daily and we have a substantial amount of funds in reserve and circulating. it is time to "loosen" the belt, review the severe downsizing efforts, ever increasing retirement levels, outside consultants and fairly evaluate performance.

It will okay to return to some normalcies and offer much needed career opportunities to the residents will to work in the public service sector.

In my tenure as a County Commissioner I have strongly supported mobile home communities and will continue to do so in the future. Mobile or modular homes provide an affordable means of housing for retirees on a fixed income. They also provide a lifestyle environment which tends to be a draw to a 55 and over community. I have vigorously defended the rights of mobile home owners, the communities and will continue to do so in the future.

I believe the County Commission has dealt with the economic downturn and has done so efficiently. Due to the downturn, we are currently operating with a budget that is less than two-thirds of the budget of 2006. This was achieved by careful analysis of the County needs versus wants. Essential services are always the forefront in my budget decision making. I believe health, safety and the welfare of our citizens should never be compromised.

The entire budget needs a comprehensive review for calculated growth, smart spending and essential services. Once again the millage rate has been increase although there is a $35 million budget surplus in ivestment funds. Money is not the issue how it is managed and spent is.

The County is currently reviewing Children Services and Economic Growth.

During my tenure we have maintained what is among the lowest millage rates in the state of Florida. Historically, 60-65 of the 67 counties in Florida have had higher millage rates than we have had in Indian River County. Being one of the lowest in the State makes it difficult to maintain a no-increase philosophy. We have one of the lowest employee to citizen ratios and our current budget was affected by a Constitutional Officers' request for the safety and security of the citizens. The current budget reflects a slight increase of tax burden, which I did support.

We do not need higher taxes, we need smarter spending. The county, school board and hospital districts have collectively increased millage rates and we need to be more conscious of this as we move forward.

Indian River County will continue to nurture a business-friendly environment. The County needs to continue to be properly marketed. We are currently engaged in a comprehensive positioning process. The results of this process will identify the earmarked facets of Indian River County that we will be promoting to enhance marketing strategies. I believe the results of this process will allow us to capitalize further to harness clean, light industry and sustainable commerce to our community. Over the past three years, Indian River County has been extremely successful in job creation through available incentives. Existing and new businesses have been fertilized through grants and incentives. Hundreds of jobs that exist in the County today would not have existed without the combined efforts of the County Commission and the Economic Development Council’s actions and the support of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce.

It is crucial that the Board of County Commission take an active role in the Economic Development of the County. It is essential to calculate level of services, quality of life and healthy prosperous environment. We should have a snapshot of our economy at ALL times.

We have an aggressive community development but no economic development arm of our Commission, this is negligent and irresponsible. Having an outsource evaluation is nice, but not having an expert and overseer in-house is inexcusable.

My recommendation is to have an office that evaluate, the current outside sources have been minimal in their recommendations and limited views. We must do a better job in this arena.

This been a great tool in high density over populated regions, it has a place in maintain balance but it should be the norm not just and exception. Again long range planning and analysis is needed to assess this for our area.

There are several indicators that show this works with careful planning and projections. Including sustain ability planning and projections. Growth needs to be managed to avoid pitfalls and poor levels of service.

Balance with the uniqueness of our ecology system has always been a consideration and should continue to be so.

This is a process that requires a lot of planning and moving parts, after consulting with some major road project engineers, there is no such formula. It is like preparing for birth it takes time and development.

At the County Commission meetings I do not see any challenges with public input. The Chairperson needs to able to control the meeting for order, to ensure the discussions are germane to the agenda item being discussed. Time limits are unnecessary, inappropriate and I do not support the imposition of limiting citizen input.

I believe there is a reasonable provision for resident, citizens and interested parties to speak fairly to the Commission. my personal experience is that questions raised are answered and addressed as requested and an invitation to resolve concerns are always welcomed.

Speakers are burdened with preparing for their presentations as much as staff is challenged with the resolution process.

I would like to see an evening forum so more residents that work are able to participate and express their concerns.

I would oppose charging non-resident fees for the use of our government's facilities. The cost of enforcement would outweigh the benefits. Non-resident fees could limit the tourism and economic benefit that is achieved by having these amenities.

Union Negotiations are currently past arbitration and in litigation. The money spent to retain Attorneys to Fight is costing the taxpayers.

There should be someway to moderate without reaching these no bargaining statuses. Most of the issues have been over simple cost of Living Increases. We have downsized our staffing in the count and have had severe attrition due to retirement.

we need to be very mindful of the impact this will have on the quality and level of services we provide our citizens if we do not have enough qualified staff on hand to handle our growing and aging population needs.

Downsizing Personnel is a 1980's trend that has hurt many corporations and is ultimately costly and ineffective.

Also we have too many people wearing multiple hats and therefore we may not be getting a true objectional and qualified view.

Economic, wealth management and household income growth and savings. Level of services and lowered taxes. We must have a true picture of our economic standing to sustain quality of life and affordability for our retirees.

Currently we are consistently increase taxes, including school and hospital taxes, fees, franchise fees, utilities, waste management fees, while operating at a surplus and over spending on consultants.

relatively appropriate to job responsibilities but should never exceed 8 times lowest paid personnel. should reflect the same as all other employees. For example, there are currently some employees that have negotiated their own contract, this should be defined with caps and limits and not extenuate past the average worker.

Where there is a great likelihood of pedestrian traffic, ie: mall, subdivisions and schools, there should be sidewalks. Funding for subdivisions should come from the developer. We should accept funding from the State when it is available to correct deficiencies of the past regarding sidewalks, which have been done.

There were several years where capital funding was greatly reduced from previous years. Our current capital funding strategy is reactive to needs as well as deficiencies caused by our conservative position that was imperative to take. It may take us a few years to gradually improve the effects of capital reduction. The priority should be on essential service facility maintenance, fleet, safety / security infrastructure.

I oppose the option of an absolute “use-it or lose-it program”. On face value, it appears that a “use-it or lose-it” policy reduces the likelihood of a large unfunded liability at the time of employee severance. In reality, time accrual is an incentive to encourage attendance and reduces the likelihood of having to fund overtime for replacement personnel or a loss of productivity. In cases where an employee is confronted with a personal hardship ie: sickness, personal loss, the employee has the option to use the time that is accrued. While past negotiated agreements and commitments have been "grandfathered", current new hires to Indian River County are hired with sick time and vacation accrual caps.

I believe the past seven years have been evidence of my thoughts. While the County Commission has no legislative authority over this matter, we have consistently supported the sale or any action that will alleviate the burden that is being bared upon the taxpayers of the unincorporated area by the existence of Vero Beach Electric.

I do not support All Aboard Florida. All Aboard Florida high speed rail endeavor bears no benefits to the citizens of Indian River County, imparts serious life safety and security concerns, environmental detriment and may impose severe financial burdens on the citizens of Indian River County. It is not self-funded and is being built upon a false premise of high speed passenger rail service. There is no present or future need for this service and is moving forward in correlation to demands of freight service. I, and all of the current County Commissioners, are taking many actions to ensure that All Aboard Florida is called to task with the ultimate goal of All Aboard Florida being defeated.

I do not believe in mandatory conversion of septic tank to sewer, specifically when it is unfunded by government and is a financial burden on citizens. Where faulty systems have been clearly identified and granting and funds are available, we have and will continue to seek swift reparations. The County Commission has done so with Community Development Block Grants and SHIP loans as in the case with septic tanks in the Wabasso area.

I believe that the two year obligation set forth in the FL Statute is more than ample to protect the public trust and to eliminate arrangements that would compromise the integrity of one’s commitment to public office. At this time, my interest is committed to the public trust in the office in which I currently hold. I do not anticipate being a lobbyist.